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Background: In patients who undergo curative treatment for oesophageal cancer, risk estimates of venous thromboembolism (VTE), arterial thromboembolism and bleeding are needed to guide decisions about thromboprophylaxis. Methods: This was a single‐centre, retrospective cohort study of patients with stage I–III oesophageal cancer who received neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by oesophagectomy. The outcomes VTE, arterial thromboembolism, major bleeding, clinically relevant non‐major bleeding and mortality were analysed for four consecutive cancer treatment stages (from diagnosis to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, during neoadjuvant treatment, 30‐day postoperative period, and up to 6 months after postoperative period). Results: Some 511 patients were included. The 2‐year survival rate was 67·3 (95 per cent c.i. 63·2 to 71·7) per cent. During the 2‐year follow‐up, 50 patients (9·8 per cent) developed VTE, 20 (3·9 per cent) arterial thromboembolism, 21 (4·1 per cent) major bleeding and 30 (5·9 per cent) clinically relevant non‐major bleeding. The risk of these events was substantial at all treatment stages. Despite 30‐day postoperative thromboprophylaxis, 17 patients (3·3 per cent) developed VTE after surgery. Patients with VTE had worse survival (time‐varying hazard ratio 1·81, 95 per cent c.i. 1·25 to 2·64). Most bleeding events occurred around the time of medical intervention, and approximately one‐half during concomitant use of prophylactic or therapeutic anticoagulation. Conclusion: Patients with oesophageal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery are at substantial risk of thromboembolic and bleeding events throughout all stages of treatment. Survival is worse in patients with thromboembolic events during follow‐up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop a reliable and easy-to-use method to assess the nasolabial appearance of 18-year-old patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP). Design: Retrospective analysis of nasolabial aesthetics using a 5-point ordinal scale and newly developed photographic reference scale: the Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale (CARS). Three cleft surgeons and 20 medical students scored the nasolabial appearance on standardized frontal photographs. Setting: VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam. Patients: Inclusion criteria: 18-year-old patients, unilateral cleft lip and palate, available photograph of the frontal view. Exclusion criteria: history of facial trauma, congenital syndromes affecting facial appearance. Eighty photographs were available for scoring. Main Outcome Measures: The interobserver and intraobserver reliability of the CARS for 18-year-old patients when used by cleft surgeons and medical students. Results: The interobserver reliability for the nose and lip together was 0.64 for the cleft surgeons and 0.61 for the medical students. There was an intraobserver reliability of 0.75 and 0.78 from the surgeons and students, respectively, on the nose and lip together. No significant difference was found between the cleft surgeons and medical students in the way they scored the nose (P = 0.22) and lip (P = 0.72). Conclusions: The Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale for 18-year-old patients has a substantial overall estimated reliability when the average score is taken from three or more cleft surgeons or medical students assessing the nasolabial aesthetics of CLP patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which investigated the effect of substitution and nitrogenation on the hyperfine parameters in Gd[sub2]Fe[sub17-x](Ga,Al)[subx] and Gd(Fe,Co)[sub12-x]Mo[subx](N[suby]) by means of gadolinium Mossbauer spectroscopy. Changes in the values of the electric field gradient, effective Gd-hyperfine field and isomer shift; Importance of magnetocrystalline anisotropy for permanent magnet materials; Way to stabilize ternary compounds with gadolinium, iron and cobalt.

Objectives: To compare translabial three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the measurement of levator hiatal biometry at rest in women with pelvic organ prolapse, and to determine the interobserver reliability between two independent observers for ultrasound and MRI measurements.Methods: Data were derived from a multicenter prospective cohort study in which women scheduled for conventional anterior colporrhaphy underwent translabial 3D ultrasound and MRI prior to surgery. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to estimate interobserver reliability between two independent observers and determine the agreement between ultrasound and MRI measurements. Bland-Altman plots were created to assess the agreement between ultrasound and MRI measurements.Results: Data from 139 women from nine hospitals were included in the study. The interobserver reliability of ultrasound assessment at rest, during Valsalva maneuver and during contraction and of MRI assessment at rest were moderate or good. The agreement between ultrasound and MRI for the measurement of levator hiatal biometry at rest was moderate, with ICCs of 0.52 (95%CI, 0.32-0.66) for levator hiatal area, 0.44 (95%CI, 0.21-0.60) for anteroposterior diameter and 0.44 (95%CI, 0.22-0.60) for transverse diameter. Levator hiatal biometry measurements were statistically significantly larger on MRI than on translabial 3D ultrasound.Conclusions: The agreement between translabial 3D ultrasound and MRI for measurement of the levator hiatus at rest in women with pelvic organ prolapse was only moderate. The results of translabial 3D ultrasound and MRI should therefore not be used interchangeably in daily practice or in clinical research. Copyright © 2015 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Postpartum urinary retention (PUR) is a well-known condition after childbirth. Often clinicians assume that this condition is transient, either through belief or by not being aware that its occurrence as measurement of post-void residual volume (PVRV) is often not routine. However, long lasting urinary retention is a serious condition that needs management in order to prevent urogenital tract morbidity. By performing a systematic review of the adverse effects of PUR and management of this condition, we aimed to identify the necessity of diagnosing this condition in the puerperium and to evaluate whether treatment is required. Methods: We searched for all studies on PUR in OVID MEDLINE, OVID EMBASE, and ongoing Trial registers. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted the data. Results: Twenty-four papers were included in this review. Limited data on adverse effects demonstrate potential morbidities, like micturition symptoms and sporadically spontaneous bladder ruptures, related to PUR. Conclusions: Based on current literature, evidence stating that PUR is harmless is lacking. Future research should focus on management strategies for overt PUR and the long-term consequences of covert PUR. Until these results are available, clinicians should be aware of the potential consequences and therefore keep trying to identify patients at risk of PUR and patients with the actual condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large scale implementation of solar and wind powered renewable electricity generation will use up to continent sized connected electricity grids built to distribute the locally fluctuating power. Systematic power output variation will then become manifest since solar power has an evident diurnal period, but also surface winds--which are driven by surface temperatures--follow a diurnal periodic behavior lagging about 4 h in time. On an ordinary day a strong diurnal varying renewable electricity generation results when combining wind and solar power on such continent sized grid. Comparison with possible demand patterns indicates that coping with such systematically varying generation will require large scale renewable energy storage and conversion for timescales and storage capacities of at least up to half a day. Seasonal timescales for versatile, high quality, generally applicable, energy conversion and storage are equally essential since the continent wide insolation varies a factor ~, e.g., in Europe and Northern Africa together. A first order model for estimating required energy storage and conversion magnitudes is presented, taking into account potential diurnal and seasonal energy demand and generation patterns. A few scalable energy storage methods are briefly indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rowing is a sport which requires a proper technique, strong core balance, physical strength and endurance. Rowing boats designed for competition are built of epoxy laminate with glass or carbon reinforcement; they are lightweight, stiff, long, and narrow to achieve minimal water resistance. However, this makes them extremely unstable and difficult to handle for less experienced rowers. Current boats designed for recreational users are generally made of polyethylene; they are more stable, heavier, but are difficult to handle individually and generally do not provide the same ‘rowing experience’ that users desire. To bridge this gap an innovative recreational single scull rowing boat has been designed and built as prototype. Focus for the design was the hydrodynamics of the hull, use of light weight materials and incorporation of subsystems for better performance. A design for a better stability mainly depends on a combination of the width of the hull, the shape of the cut section of the hull and the displacement of the mass. An important aspect of the change in stability is the resistance of the boat; all changes to the existing shape of the fast competition hull are likely to result an increase in resistance. Therefore a number of existing and new hull shapes were modelled and hydrodynamic properties were analysed in order to achieve a design with optimal balance in speed and stability. With the programme DELFTship TM the frictional resistances of the hull models were calculated at different speeds. To increase the stiffness and to save weight attention was paid to the choice of materials and construction method, taking into account the requirement of affordability for private ownership. With the implementation of sliding riggers an increase in speed can be attained due to the increased power. Also stability is increased due to elimination of pitching from weight transfer in the boat. The new boat design incorporates the sliding rigger system; this had a huge effect on the other subsystems of the boat and on the design (mainly the length) of the hull. This paper reports the development from a perspective of ‘embodiment design’ to achieve the required performance. Analyses of hydrodynamics, materials and production technique and section of subsystems finally resulted in the design of rowing boat with a completely new hull shape, matching the requirements of stability and speed. A first prototype of the innovative single scull rowing boat for the recreational user was built. User tests have shown that this boat provides the stability of current recreational boats, with the addition of a good ‘rowing experience,’ and faster feeling of competition boats. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Upon lithium insertion in the pristine TiO2anatase phase the theoretical maximum of LiTiO2can be reached in crystallite sizes less than ∼10 nm, whereas bulk compositions appear limited to Lix0.6TiO2at room temperature. Both X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and ab initiocalculations have been applied to probe the electronic structure of the newly formed LiTiO2phase. These results indicate that a large majority of the Li-2s electrons reside at the Ti-3d(t2g)/4s hybridized site. About 10% of these electrons are transferred to non-localized states which makes this compound a good electronic conductor. Ionic conductivity is probed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation experiments indicating relatively small hopping rates between the Li-ion sites in LiTiO2. Formation of the poor ionic-conducting LiTiO2at the surface of the particles explains why micro-anatase LixTiO2is not able to reach the theoretical maximum capacity at room temperature, and why this theoretical maximum capacity reached in nano-sized materials cannot be (dis)charged at high rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-pressure 155Gd Mössbauer measurements in the range 0–20 GPa have been performed in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) at low temperatures. Due to the high Mössbauer transition energy of 86.54 keV, problems with pressure calibration, shielding, and gasketting arise, which are not present in DAC measurements on lower-energy Mössbauer isotopes. A strong point source has been produced using hot neutrons. Consequences for measuring times are discussed, together with a description of the optical system used for the pressure calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses how a pulse sequence has been implemented for the determination of domain sizes in C enriched organic materials with two-dimensional high-resolution magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR correlation spectroscopy. Methods of the study; Results and discussion.

An abstract of the article "Diagnosing levator defects on 3D transperineal ultrasound compared to MR imaging," by K. Notten, M. Weemhoff, K. Schweitzer, J. Futterer, J. Stoker, F. Mulder, R. Beets-Tan, R. Vliegen, J. Roovers, and K. Kluivers is presented.

The nanosized Li4+xTi5O12 spinel is investigated by electrochemical (dis)charging and neutron diffraction. The near-surface environment of the nanosized particles allows higher Li ion occupancies, leading to a larger storage capacity. However, too high surface lithium storage leads to irreversible capacity loss, most likely due to surface reconstruction or mechanical failure. A mechanism where the large near-surface capacity ultimately leads to surface reconstruction rationalizes the existence of an optimal particle size. Recent literature attributes the curved voltage profiles, leading to a reduced length of the voltage plateau, of nanosized electrode particles to strain and interface energy from the coexisting end members. However, the unique zero-strain property of the Li4+xTi5O12 spinel implies a different origin of the curved voltage profiles observed for its nanosized crystallites. It is proposed to be the consequence of different structural environments in the near-surface region, depending on the distance from the surface and surface orientation, leading to a distribution of redox potentials in the near-surface area. This phenomenon may be expected to play a significant role in all nanoinsertion materials displaying the typical curved voltage curves with reduced length of the constant-voltage plateau., [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]